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KEEPING up with advances in new car technologies can be time-consuming.

And while I know my car comes with three-letter acronyms such as CVT, ESC, ABS, TIL and AWD, don't ask me to explain what all of them mean.

Modern cars are safer by orders of magnitude than they've ever been and despite this making them heavier, they're even more fuel efficient. Anti-theft features, including immobilisers and alarms, make some vehicles almost impossible to steal.

So why did car thefts jump an incredible 23% in the last financial year?

The answer, and method, couldn't be simpler. Thieves just used the car keys to open the door and drive away.

Use of car keys has become the most common method of vehicle theft, begging the question; if cars are more secure than ever, are we getting dumber or are thieves getting smarter?

Either answer is troubling.

The majority of new cars are fitted with central locking, so a savvy thief doesn't even need to know which car the keys belong to - they can just keep pressing the remote unlock and wait for the car to flash its lights and announce itself ready to be stolen.

It seems that no matter how advanced car security has become, the one critical factor that doesn't seem to advance is the human element.

Car keys should be treated like cash - make sure the keys are with you or at least always in sight.

That way, you can rely on one of the fancy three-letter acronyms on your car to keep thieves away.